Expose or warn others about scams and scammers, or shady business practices. Expose those that have cheated you or ripped you off. Caution: Before naming specific individuals or groups, make sure that they really wronged you and that there was no misunderstanding. Otherwise your post may constitute slander or libel if it contains false information.

I posted this review on Ctrip.com for the Sea Star Club hotel, which was WRONGLY listed in Kangding, Sichuan in the Ganzi region:

Complaint Review for Sea Star Club, Ganzi Region, Sichuan, China

I booked this hotel on ctrip while on the bus to Kangding. However, the bus arrived after 11pm late at night and then I found out that this hotel was NOT even in Kangding, but 90 minutes outside of the city! So I called the hotel and they refused to cancel or refund my booking. I explained that they are at fault for listing their hotel in Kangding on Ctrip, either that or Ctrip is at fault, but they would listen to reason. Apparently, China is not pro-consumer in that any mistake made by the business (such as in this case) will be paid for by the customer or guest, not the business. This is wrong and illogical, but of course, money is more important than logic and reason. This hotel has a bad attitude and does not listen to reason or logic. They claim that their address is on Ctrip but that's not true, because the ENGLISH version of Ctrip that I used does not show the address in China until AFTER the booking is complete. Furthermore, having never been to Kangding, I cannot look at the map of the hotel and know where the heck it is. I assumed that if the hotel was listed in Kangding, then it should be in Kangding, or at least nearby. I also explained this to Ctrip customer service many times by email, but they would not acknowledge fault or address my argument above. They simply ignored my case and told me that the hotel refused to cancel my booking and that's all. They would not listen to reason or acknowledge fault, whether theirs or the hotels, and decided that they would not take the loss and would make me pay for THEIR MISTAKE (or the hotels). This is stupid and illogical and unreasonable and unfair. So I am rating this hotel as low as I can, and disputing the charge with my credit card too. I will also post this complaint in my forum regarding Sea Star Club hotel to help give them a bad name online, which they justly deserve.

Update:

Upon investigation, it appears that this hotel is only wrongly listed in Kangding on Ctrip's mobile site and mobile app, not their desktop site. Moreover, the address of the hotel is NOT listed on the English version of Ctrip at all, so the hotel was wrong about that and refused to acknowledge it. Have a look at the URL below which goes to Ctrip's mobile English site search results for hotels in Kangding.

As you can see, the Sea Star Club hotel is WRONGLY listed in Kangding when it is actually 90 minutes outside of Kangding. It's a clear mistake, but neither Ctrip nor the hotel wishes to acknowledge it or address it. That's bad customer service and unethical and lazy as well. Shame on you Ctrip. I'm going to forward this post to Ctrip and request that they have a manager look at it, and I mean someone who can read, think, analyze and address my arguments, not just some dumb customer service rep who sends form letters.

Dear Ctrip,
One of your agents called me yesterday. She refused to acknowledge the mistake by Ctrip even though I proved it 100 percent with three screen shots. Furthermore, she tried to argue that Kangding city and 90 minutes outside of Kangding are the same thing! That's ridiculous and you know it. Kangding is a city, not a province. If you go 90 minutes outside of Zhuhai, are you still in Zhuhai? No of course not. Ctrip does not usually list hotels 90 minutes outside the city as being in the same city. So her argument was very pathetic. She is obviously in denial. Shame on her. Denial does not change the truth. Don't you guys care about right and wrong?

Do you Chinese people have trouble admitting your mistakes? It seems you are using typical Chinese stubborn mentality in refusing to acknowledge fault. That's very bad and immature and illogical. Don't you guys care about right and wrong? Denial does not erase the facts or truth. Can you forward my case to your boss? Perhaps he is smarter than your stubborn agents who deny and refuse to acknowledge the truth.

Regarding your hotel reservation in See star club, the hotel is located at the area of yingguancun in Kangding. That is also part of Kangding and belongs to Kangding. You could check it on the Internet. The hotel has the Chinese address. If you could not understand this, you could either click Map to check the location or call us or email us to find more details before you submitted the order. According to the hotel, they never received such feedback from other customers before and all their customers can recognize their address easily. We have already forwarded your case to our management group but our management group confirmed Ctrip could not afford the penalty for you on this case. However, considering your service experience, we can credit 3000 Ctrip points to your Ctrip account. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Thanks for your time.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us during our business hours (9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Beijing time) or email us at intlsite_complaint@ctrip.com.

Also as you saw my screen shots the english version of ctrip mobile does NOT show the hotel address or map. Did you remember that?

Either way when i search for hotels in shenzhen, i never get hotels outside of shenzhen 90 minutes away. So its logical to assume the same for kangding. Right? Thus theres no reason for me to have called you. Think from a reasonable persons standpoint.

Why do you care what the hotel says? Of course they will deny it. Chinese are stubborn and do not like to admit fault. You know that. You should make them pay for the mistake.

You understand that english ctrip does not show addresses right? You seem to miss this.

新都桥 Xinduqiao however is still a part of Kangding City (within the administration of Kangding City), despite it is up to 1 1/2 to 2 hours away (direction to Tagong monastery) by bus.

I think, Xinduqiao is the place the hotel refers in its reply. I cannot find this hotel and its location anywhere. No idea how they call it in Chinese.

To claim this hotel is still within the city limit is a cheap excuse really.

This is a stupid made reservation page, there is no information, no separation between city-hotels and far away resort-hotels in these hotel booking webpages, especially the English pages offer no map and no name of the hotel in Chinese.

China needs still a lot of improvements regarding services of any kind, this is not a fully developed country.
I think it does not make sense to quarrel about any refund. It's not about this reservation center, but for the hotel itself, it's no show, they can charge for the unused room, no question about.